New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta Preview

(Newport, RI)- The second week of June has traditionally marked the start of the summer sailing season for the New York Yacht Club. The 169th NYYC Annual Regatta will be taking place over the June 9th to 11th weekend on the waters of Narragansett Bay and Rhode Island Sound. Hundreds of sailors are looking forward to visiting the seaside resort of Newport, RI- “the city by the sea”- for some fun and frolic. The regatta format features the incredibly popular Round Island Race on Friday (a 21.0nm circumnavigation of Conanicut Island), followed by a combination of course racing and navigator racing on Saturday and Sunday. 

By far the two largest fleets participating are the four ORC and four PHRF handicap divisions consisting of 85 offshore keelboats. There is significant participation by J/Boats teams, with twenty-four J’s racing (28% of the fleet!).

ORC C Division
Participating in this nine-boat division will be Ken Comerford’s J/121 DARK STORM from Annapolis, MD, and Albrecht Goethe’s J/46 HAMBURG II from Lakewood, TX. 

ORC D Division
It’s looking like the ten-boat division looks like a J/122 one-design class event, with five of them sailing. Those teams include Don Dwyer’s BLUE YONDER, Tom Sutton’s LEADING EDGE, Robin Team’s TEAMWORK, Constantine Baris’ DIRE WOLF, and Jack Gregg’s TARAHUMARA. Joining that rogue’s gallery of offshore mercenaries is the well-sailed J/133 VAMOOSE- skippered by Bob Manchester. 

ORC E Division
In the ten-boat division, the sole J/team is Al Minella’s new J/112e THE ROCC, he’s hoping that legendary Long Island Sound sailor Kerry Klingler can get their team going fast in the right direction!

PHRF 2 Division
The seventeen-boat will have their hands full getting off this “big boat” starting line that features several hot J/teams in the mix. Sailing is Joe Britto’s J/121 INCOGNITO, Jim Phyfe’s J/44 DIGGER, Kevin Kelley’s J/122 SUMMER GRACE, and two J/111s (Doug Curtiss’ WICKED 2.0 and Abhijeet Lee’s VARUNA). 

PHRF 3 Division
Equaling PHRF 2 as the largest division in the regatta, the seventeen boats in this fleet will have a “mixed bag” of experience to contend with on the starting line, from World-class sailors to Wet Wednesday “beer-canners”. The fleet includes Jeff Johnstone’s J/99 UPBEAT, two J/109s (Bill Kneller’s VENTO SOLARE & John Greifzu’s GROWTH SPURT), EC Helme’s J/92S SPIRIT, three J/105s (Doug Stryker’s MAYHEM, Rob Marsh’s BLOW BOAT, & Chris Tate’s BLITZ), and Dawson & Ben Hodgson’s J/100 GRIMACE. 

PHRF 4 Division
The nine-boat fleet will feature Jack McGuire’s J/29 DIRTY HARRY and Daniel Stone’s J/92 TRIPLE PLAY. 
For more New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta sailing information